Ghost In Red

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"Eeeeep! Sydney, Sydney, Sindeeeey!" Emma screeched in enthusiasm as she finally went out of the classroom after talking to Ms. Valerian, our lovely History teacher, about the assignment for next week. And I have been waiting for her right at the side of the hallway near our classroom.    

"Why so excited, Ems? Bad news?" I asked her, expecting that she got some good news to tell, and she gripped my left arm tightly with both her hands as we began walking.    

She excitedly answered, "Well, since OJ can't make it for that class activity, Ms. Val will just give her a special work if ever she will finally be back, while meeeee--- I will work with you!"    

My eyebrows met, puzzled by her news, and I asked her in curiosity, "What about Grace? We are partners. I can't ditch her for you."    

"Ouch! I will just pretend that I didn't hear you say that right to my face, Syd. She's not going to be a problem... Why? Because I will be both your problem! We will have a threesome, you bitch! Isn't it amazing?" She remarked and cheered with a very tiny voice, and I just gave her a huh look on my face.    

Then she went to walk ahead of me, heading to the library. Nice. Very nice. At least I won't be alone if ever OJ's clique will be ambushing me while using Grace's appointment with me as a decoy.    

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Our meeting went well with the three of us discussing our plans for the class reporting next week. Thankfully, there isn't any topic about OJ that was brought up by one of her dearest friends.    

And when we were about to part ways at the parking lot, Grace asked if she could talk to me alone, and I told Emma to go ahead to Kevin's car.    

I thought we wouldn't be talking about OJ Hunters; I was wrong.    

"So... Syd, umm... I'm sorry if some of our schoolmates have been attacking you with lots of absurd threats. But... I do believe that you have nothing to do with that issue with Harvey. People are just crazy to think that way." She apologetically began as we stood somewhere near her luxurious car, and I warmly smiled as I nodded my head lightly in response.    

"Thanks, Grace. I'm sorry, too, about what happened to OJ." I answered, and she showed me a sad smile and replied, "Yeah. No one wanted it to happen. It's an accident. I will be going to visit her right now. I don't know; I think the girls are already there. Hopefully, we could receive some good news about her condition. If you want to visit her, just let me know. You got my number. By the way, my mom is her doctor, and I could give you a VIP visitor pass. Just kidding. I just made that up, but yeah, that's it, Syd."    

"Alright, I will surely give you a notice if I could get a chance to check on her soon. Thanks." I answered, and she checked the time on her wristwatch and bid me goodbye, "I'll just see you on Monday then. Bye-bye!"    

"Yeah, see you," I replied and walked my way to my cousin's car so we could go home already. No, not go home yet, because we still have a long talk about something. And I will tell them things that they haven't known about me, but there are some that I will leave to myself for now.    

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I hugged my jacket close to my body as I just stepped off the bus and went to walk a few blocks to get to the hospital. Yes, I will visit OJ, and it's the perfect time to do so because her clique just went home after spending the whole Saturday afternoon in her room.    

Grace texted me that I could just get in. And if ever Dr. Graziella Thales will check on OJ while I am there, she already knows me since her daughter showed her some pictures of me.    

I felt a pang on my chest seeing the girl I adore lying unconscious on the bed while there are so many things and tubes connected to her from a machine. She looks awfully injured.    

Slowly, I went near to her bed to look at her closely, and I didn't notice that there are tears that escaped from my eyes.    

"Hey, OJ... It's me: Sydney, your greatest opposer." I began, trying to control myself not to cry more, but I can't hold my tears to keep exiting my tear glands.    

"My heart breaks seeing you like this, you know? Can I hold your hand for the first time? You can't say no, anyway." I continued talking to her while I went to sit on the stool beside her bed on the left side, and I held her left hand that's free from the tube and needle for the IV drip.    

It feels fantastic to have a touch of her soft skin finally.    

A deep sigh escaped my mouth as I tried to recall all the bad times we shared while I felt all the regret that I should feel. We have a horrible history, and I badly wish I could fix it.    

"You know what, OJ? I'm sorry. I am so sorry for everything. If I could just turn back time---way back when we were still younger, I would like to see how we were today when I treated you better. Better and with the way I sincerely would want to. I know you can't hear me now, but I will still tell you these things because I want to practice them. Do you know why? It's because I will be saying them to you again when you will finally wake up and be better."    

I wiped the tears on my face with the sleeves of my jacket, and I inhaled deeply before talking again.    

"I will surely be missing the look on your face whenever you look at me sharply, roll your eyes at me whenever you disapprove of something I say, also, those times when you stare at me with your stone-cold face, raise an eyebrow at me, especially the left one. They both look lovely, by the way. You look lovely. No, pretty. Absolutely not. You look beautiful. True. Very. Stunning. Well, if you just knew what I really feel for you for so long, you'd be surprised—no, flabbergasted is the right term. I wish I could tell you, but I'm afraid you would freak out by then. I may be a creep for crushing on the person who hates me so much, but I find it hard not to like you ever since. I mean, you were so nice to everyone else, just not when it comes to me. Maybe you find me so rude with the way I look at you. Don't get it wrong; I look at you because I love looking at you. Not that I fantasize, though, sometimes I do, but I look at you to study your features. And by just looking at you from afar, I memorized every detail that I needed to. Yeah, I like you, OJ. So much. Funny, right? I am hella sure that you would hate me more when you hear these shits that I am babbling right now. But it's true. I like you. I have liked you ever since our primary days. No, I think preschool. Yeah, I do. And it will be okay if you will still hate me when you finally wake up. I just want to see you be okay. That's what I badly wished. Get better soon, alright?"    

I gently caressed her hand with both of mine, and I kissed the back of it while I try not to let out a sob. Crying is my new hobby now, and it is so hard not to whenever I could think of her situation.    

A couple of minutes passed, and I just spent staring at her and talking about lots of stuff that I would be telling her when she will finally be conscious.    

And I finally stood up as I needed to go home now.    

"Hey, I will be leaving you now because you might wake up because I am so noisy here. I will just see you next time. I will surely revisit you. Good night, OJ." I bid her goodbye, and I brought my right hand to her right cheek to get a soft touch of it.    

I know it feels like shit to have lots of attached tubes to you, and the bandages on her head still have some bloodstains, and she has neck support. I hope there isn't anything broken with her other than her heart. I genuinely want to fix it if she gives me a chance, but I think it would be so damn impossible. But it is free to dream. Yeah, she's my dream girl. Unfortunately, I was too afraid to show her how I feel, or even be true to myself. But I'm ready. I need to be. Whatever the consequences, I will face it.    

I let out a sigh as I looked at her one last time, and I finally turned to leave the room with a heavy feeling in my heart.    

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Three days have passed since the last time I visited OJ, and I feel so excited to see her again. It's another Saturday, and I want to ask how she's been doing with the new doctor assigned to her. Her name is Dr. Andrea Montgomery-Jordan.    

Last Wednesday, Grace's mom needed to take a two-weeks leave as she needed to take care of her eighty-two-year-old sick mother that lives in Utah. So they needed to assign a new one to OJ.    

When I stepped inside the room, I found a doctor doing something at the heartbeat monitoring machine.    

I was about to greet her when I saw something unusual around the room, making my heart beat faster in fear. What the...?    

"Excuse me, Doc! Where is the girl who was here? OJ Hunters." I called her out as I hurried near her, and I saw the male patient on the bed looking at me bizarrely.    

"Where is she? Please, tell me that she is alright!" I kept asking her in panic, and tears began to fall from my eyes while trying not to think of something terrible.    

"Oh, hi! I'm Dr. Andrea M. Jordan, and I was Miss Hunters' doctor when she was still here." She greeted me and introduced herself, which made me look at her in confusion.    

"Umm, what do you mean 'was'? Where is she now? What happened? Did she get into another room? Where is it? Please, tell me that she's okay. Please." I asked and begged her while tears kept falling from my eyes, and she smiled warmly at me.    

"Don't worry; she's okay." She answered, which made me let out a sigh of relief, and I asked her again, "Where is she?"    

"This morning, her parents were here, and they have agreed with the head of the hospital to bring Miss OJ Hunters to New York City." She explained, and I tried to process the information in my mind correctly.    

"Sorry, what?" I asked her in complete shock as I don't know how to react to what she just said to me.